International Recognition

Of course we think that Budapest is the best city in the world but you might think we are biased – and we probably are – but don't just take our word for it. The excellence of Budapest has been often recognised by awards and international publications. Here are just a few examples of the honours from recent years.

According to Condé Nast Traveler's Reader Choice Awards 2014 Budapest is the second best city in Europe, only preceded by Florence, and overtaking Prague and Rome. This was partly attributed to the city's spa and café culture. TripAdvisor chose Budapest as the world's best value-for-money travel destination two years in a row in 2013 and 2014 based on 54,000 reader's votes. European Best Destinations, a not-for-profit organisation developed to promote culture and tourism in Europe put Budapest in the Top 5 travel destinations in Europe out of 20 entries, together with Porto, Zagreb, Vienna and Nicosia. Statistik Austria, Austria's office of statistics, Expressen, a Swedish daily paper and The British Post Office's City Cost Barometer all put Budapest on the top of their list of the best value-for-money cities to visit. UK newspaper The Guardian also recommended Budapest as the best budget city break in Europe based on the cost of renting an apartment for a few nights. Lonely Planet, the world's favourite travel website named Budapest as the best winter break destination in 2012. Also in 2012, the readers of the Lonely Planet guidebooks, voted A38 the best bar in the world. In 2013 Budapest was in Lonely Planet's Top 10 of destinations worth discovering, recommending the ruin pubs and garden cafés. In 2013 Foursquare conducted a survey to find the most romantic cities for Valentine's Day, and Budapest came second, before Rome and Paris, only losing out to Prague.

As well as the city as a whole, Budapest's constituent parts have also garnered much praise individually. Ramada Resort – Aquaworld Budapest has made the Dutch De Telegraaf's list of the world's ten best hotels with water parks based on its variety of attractions. The recently restored Liszt Academy of Music received one of the world's most prestigious design awards, the Red Dot for its strong and consistent brand image that expresses the dual identity of the institution. Budapest's world famous baths regularly appear on international lists. The American Thrillist.com named the over 500 year old Turkish pool at the Rudas Baths the world's fourth best hot tub, while CNN praisedGellért Thermal Baths, the readers of The Guardian were partial to Palatinus and the Spiegel Online fell in love with Széchenyi. In a more unusual selection, National Geographic looked at the world's most beautiful tram lines; it's no wonder that the No2 Tramline of Budapest, which runs along the Danube and around Parliament. The Guardian online named the Great Market Hall among the ten best food markets in Europe, noting its spectacular architectural, as well as "lángos – a deep-fried monster of dough topped with sour cream and cheese that is the quintessential Hungarian street food."